Metal strip handling apparatus



Feb- 9, 1965 R. MULLER ETAL 3,168,844

METAL STRIP HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 8, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l FigaFeb. 9, 1965 R. MULLER ETAL 3,168,844

METAL. STRIP HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. B. 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lll@ENE www United States Patent Office lhill Patented Feb. 9, i9653,168,844 METAL STRii HANDLHNG APPARATUS Rudolf Mller, Neckerhausen,near Mannheim, and Lothar Vogtmann, Dahlbrueh, Westphalia, Germany,assignors to Siemag Siegener Maschinenbau Gesellschaft mit l1. Haftung,Dahlbrueh, Westphalia, Germany, a corporation of Germany Filed Oct. 8,1962, Ser. No. 228,895

Claims priority, application Germany, Get. 14, 196i,

1l Claims. (Cl. Sti-d3) This invention relates to metal strip handlingapparatus and, more particularly to apparatus arranged to produce steelstrip by the rolling process.

In a strip rolling mill consisting of a roughing stand and a finishingstand, it is necessary to continue the pro duction of strip when one ofthe rolling stands breaks down gradually until it is possible to bringthe rest of the stands to a stop. To permit the roughing stands tocontinue production of strip in such an emergency, a cropand-cobblershear is arranged between the roughing train and the finishing train tocut the strip into sheets as it leaves the roughing train. Because ofthe limitation on conveying distance that can exist between the laststand of the roughing train and the first stand of the finishing train,which distance is limited in order to permit the strip securely to beguided into the finishing train, the lengths into which the strip is cutduring cobble-cutting are quite short and the value of such cobble cutsas usable stock is very low. These and other difiiculties experiencedwith the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by thepresent invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention -to provide ametal strip handling apparatus which provides a safe conveying of theforward end of the roll stock from the last stand of a roughing train tothe first stand of a finishing train.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a metal striphandling apparatus for strip which provides a method of accumulatingsheets of strip when, during an emergency, it is necessary to Cobble-cutthe strip as it emerges from the roughing train.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of metalstrip handling apparatus for strip providing for transmission of the endof the strip from the roughing train to the finishing train, oralternatively, to cut the strip into short lengths in an emergency andstack them for removal.

With these and other objects in View, as will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of partsset forth in the specification and covered by the claims appendedhereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood byreference to certain of its structural forms as illustrated by theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a vertical sectional view of a rolling mill apparatusembodying the principles of the present invention, j

FlG. 2 is a vertical sectional View of the apparatus taken under adifferent set of conditions,

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the invention,

FIG. 4 is a plan View of the invention, and

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional transverse View of an alternativearrangement of the invention.

In general, it is the purpose of this invention to provide a striprolling mill having at least one crop-and- Cobble shear between theroughing and the finish trains with a roller-type conveyor to carry thestrip from one train to the other. It is the purpose of the invention toarrange this apparatus so that, in an emergency operation, the strip canbe divided into sheets which would be useful for further processing and,nevertheless, so that there will be no difficulty in guiding the stripunder normal conditions of operation. A roller element is arrangedfollowing the crop-and-cobble shear and a sheet metal receiver is alsoprovided, both of these elements being guided on tracks which extendtransversely of the roll pass. The conveyor and the receiver are equalin length and are equipped with a driving device for selecting forlocation in the roll pass either the roller con- Veyor for normaloperation or the sheet metal receiver for emergency operation. Inaddition, a roller drive is mounted following the crop-and-cobble shearin which an upper driving roll can be moved upwardly out of workingposition when the roller conveyor is in place. When the sheet metalreceiver is in position, the upper driving roll is moved downwardly intodriving position. To simplify the construction arrangement of thisdevice, it is of particular advantage that the roller conveyor and thesheet metal receiver each be mounted on a separate car and that the carsbe joined by a flexible connection one beside the other. This makes itpossible to move the cars by a common actuating device. The mostdesirable piling of the sheets which are cut from the strip in emergencyoperation will be obtained when the sheet metal receiver has a floorwhich has a slope extending downwardly away from the driving device andis provided with a stationary stop on the end of the receiver away fromthe driving device. It is contemplated that it will be possible toarrange several sheet metal receivers in side-byside relationship and tomove them during emergency operation successively into alignment withthe roll pass.

Following the last roll stand of the finishing train in a strip millthere is arranged a crop-and-cobble shear 1. For the purpose of thisapplication, the expression crop-and-cobble shear is used to describe aparticular type of shear which is commonly used alternatively to cut off(crop) the forward and rearward ends of a strip or to cut the length ofstrip into smaller lengths in case of an accident (Cobble). It is thefunction of this shear to rotate continually and cut sheet lengths froma sheet metal strip 2 as it leaves the roughing train at the time of anemergency, such as a breakdown of one of the rolling stands of thefollowing finish train. This cutting takes place until the completerolling mill can be shut off. Aligned with the crop-and-cobble shear lis arranged a roller-type stock-driving device 3 which can be put out ofoperation under normal operation of the strip mill by moving an upperdrive roll 3a upwardly away from the lower drive roll 3b. Following thestockdriving device 3 and in front of the first stand 5 0f the finishingtrain is a foundation hole or pit 4 having tracks 6 arrangedtransversely of the roll pass. Cars 7 and 8 are movable on these tracks,are flexibly connected one beside the other, and can be driven by acommon driving device, for example, by a pressure-medium adjusting motor9. The car 7 carries a number of conveyor rolls 10 each of which isdriven by an individual motor 11 and arranged in a pre-determineddistance to form a roller type conveyor 12. The rolls l0 are'mounted onparallel axes which are also parallel to the adjustment direction of thecars 7 and 3. On the car 8 is mounted a sheet metal receiver 13 whichhas a length approximately the same as that of the conveyor 12.

During normal operation of the strip mill, the cars 7 and 8 are moved bythe adjusting motor 9 on the track 6 into such a position that theconveyor l2 mounted on the car 7 connects the last roll stand of theroughing train with the first roll stand 5 of the finishing train. Thestock or strip 2 coming from the roughing train will be broughtimmediately into the finishing train, as shown in FIG. l.

In the event of a breakdown of a rolling stand in the areas/ta finishingtrain, the crop-and-cobble shear 1 will be placed in operation as willthe stock-driving device 3. At the same time, the adjusting motor 9 willbe energized in such a way that, by moving the cars 7 and 3, the rollerconveyor 12 leaves the path of the strip 2 and the sheet metal receiver13 is positioned behind the stock driving device 3 in the roll pass. Thecrop-and-cobble shear 1 continues to rotate so that the rolling stock 2coming from the roughing train will be cut into sheets which will bepushed by the device 3 into the sheet metal receiver i3 and there piled.As is evident in FiG. 2, the sheet metal receiver 13 is equipped with afloor which slopes downwardly away from the device 3 so that the cutsheets fall by gravity and slide against a stationary stop 14. in thatway, an accurately adjusted pile 15 of sheet metal sheets is formed inthe sheet metal receiver. The ioor of the receiver 13 is suitably formedof blocks 16 which have vertical tianges 15a, which are mounted onebeside the other in the direction of the roll pass on the car 8, andwhich serve as a `sliding surface for the sheet metal. To make thesliding easy for the-lirst piece of sheet metal,` the ends of the blockswhich are in the direction ot the device 3 are curved downwardly, as isevident in FIG. 2.

During the emergency, after the strip mill has been completely broughtto a stop and the damaged roll stand is again ready for operation, theadjusting motor 9 can be energized to bring the roller conveyor 12 intoworking position by movementof the cars 7 and 8. At that time, the sheetmetal receiver 13 moves back into inoperative position. Since the sheetmetal receiver 13 is now in an inoperative position away from the rollpass, the sheet pile vtcan be removed by a crane without interferingwith the strip mill operation.

Each of the cars 7 and 8 is equipped with four rimless wheels 17 andwith four guide pulleys 1S, each of which engages a side of one of thetracks 6i, as is best evident in FIG. 4.

The modiiied arrangement shown in FIG. diliers from the version shown inFIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4 only in that a car 23 is provided with severalsheet metal receivers 13a and 13b mounted side-by-side, which can bebrought into position in alignment with the roll pass when desired. Thisis accomplished by means of an actuating motor 29 moving the car 2Salong tracks 26 on wheels 27. The car Z3 is connected along with a car33 carrying rolls 3@ driven by motors 31. Vertically pivoted Wheels 32guide the cars along the track 26 and the adjustment of the cars takesplace through a piston rod 49' extending from the motor 29.

A quick-action adjustment is provided for the conveyor 12 and the sheetmetal receivers 13. This is made possible by using parallel racks 19whose teeth face one another and which are joined by a gear 22 pivotallyattached to the end of a piston rod Ztl which extends from the motor 9,the gear being mounted on a transverse arm 21 to the center of which thepiston rod Z6 is attached and on the ends of which are mounted the gears22, one in the vicinity of each track 6. Each of these bevel gears 22engages a stationary gear rack 23, on the one hand, and a gear rack 24which is connected to the car 7. When the transverse arm 21 moves withthe piston rod 2b the bevel gears 22 roll between the racks 23 and 24;this means that the moving speed of the cars 7 and 8 is'twice that ofthe speed of the piston rod 20.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the material spiritthereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to theexact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include allsuch as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new anddesired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A metal strip handling apparatus with at least one crop-and-cobbleshear arranged between roughing and finishing trains and with a rollerconveyor for carrying the stock from one train to the othercharacterized by the fact that a roller element is lo' cated after thecrop-and-cobble shear coextensively with a sheet metal receiver andguided on common tracks transverse of the roll pass and at the same timeselectively movable into the path of the rolling stock to align theroller element with the roll pass during normal operation and to alignthe sheet metal receiver with the roll pass during emergency opera tion.2. A metal strip handling apparatus as recited in claim l, characterizedby the fact that a roller-type stock-driving device is arranged afterthe crop-and-cobbie shear, the device having an upper roll which can bemoved upwardly and out of working position when the roller element isaligned with the roll pass and; which can be moved downwardly intodriving position when the sheet metal receiver is so aligned. 3. A metalstrip handling apparatus as recited in claim l, characterized by thefact that the roller element and the sheet metal receiver are mounted onseparate cars which are flexibly connected together. 4. A metal striphandling apparatus as recited in claiml 3 characterized by the fact thatthe cars are movable by `a common pressure-actuated device. 5. A metalstrip handling apparatus as recited in claim l characterized by the factthat the sheet metal receiver has a floor which slopes downwardly andaway from the stock-driving device and is equipped with a stationarystop at the end away from the device. 6. A metal strip handlingapparatus as recited in claim 1 y characterized by the tact that severalsuch sheet metal receivers are arranged for successive movement into theroll pass. Y 7. Rolling mill apparatus for use with a roughing train anda finishing train having a crop-and-cobble shear foilowing the roughingtrain, comprising (a) a pit located between the trains, (b) tracksmounted at the bottom of the pit and extending transversely of the rollpass, (c) a conveyor slidably mounted on the tracks and extendingparallel to the roll pass, (d) a stock-receiving frame also slidablymounted on the tracks and extending parallel to the roll pass, and (e)means for selectively aligning either the conveyor or the frame with theroll pass. 8. Rolling mill apparatus for use in rolling strip with aroughing train and a finishing train having a crop-andcobble shearfollowing the roughing train, the trains and shear defining a straightroll pass, comprising Y (a) a pit located between the shear and thetinishing stand, (b) tracks mounted at the bottom of the pit andextending transversely of the roll pass, (c) a roller conveyor slidablymounted on the tracks and extending parallel to the roll pass, (d) aninclined strip-piling frame also slidably mounted on the tracks andextending parallel to the` roll pass, and l (e) a linear actuator forselectively aligning either the conveyor or the `frame with the rollpass. 9. Rolling mill apparatus for use in rolling strip with a roughingtrain and a finishing train, comprising (a) a crop-and-cobble shearfollowing the roughing train, the trains and shear deiining a straightroll pass,

(b) means normally located on the roll pass to guide the front end ofthe strip from the shear tothe inish train, and

(c) means movable relative to the roll pass during Cobble shearing toreceive usable lengths cut from the strip by the shear.

10. Metal strip handling appartus, comprising (a) a nishing train, Y

(b) a crop-and-cobble shear in front of the nishing train,

(c) a conveyor normally extending between the shear and the train inline with the roll pass,

(d) a stock-receiving frame arranged beside the conveyor, and

(e) means operative for moving the conveyor and the frame laterally ofthe roll pass at the time of cobble shearing so that the frame is inline with the roll pass.

11. Metal strip handling apparatus, comprising (a) a nishing train,

(b) a crop-and-cobble shear immediately preceding the finishing train,

(c) a strip-driving means located in the roll pass following the shear,

(d) a roller conveyor normally extending between the strip-driving meansand the finishing train in line with the roll pass, t

(e) an inclined strip-piling frame arranged beside the conveyor, and

() means operative for moving the conveyor and the frame laterally ofthe roll pass at the time of cobble shearing so that the frame is inline with the roll pass.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS486,364 Aiken Nov. 15, 1892 942,644 Huston Dec. 7, 1909 Y FOREIGNPATENTS 716,084 Germany Ian. 13, 1942

1. A METAL STRIP HANDLING APPARATUS WITH AT LEAST ONE CROP-AND-COBBLESHEAR ARRANGED BETWEEN ROUGHING AND FINISHING TRAINS AND WITH A ROLLERCONVEYOR FOR CARRYING THE STOCK FROM ONE TRAIN TO THE OTHERCHARACTERIZED BY THE FACT THAT A ROLLER ELEMENT IS LOCATED AFTER THECROP-AND-COBBLE SHEAR COEXTENSIVELY WITH A SHEET METAL RECEIVER ANDGUIDED ON COMMON TRACKS TRANSVERSE OF THE ROLL PASS AND AT THE SAME TIMESELECTIVELY MOVABLE INTO THEPATH OF THE ROLLING STOCK TO ALIGN THEROLLER ELEMENT WITH THE ROLL PASS DURING NORMAL OPERATION AND TO ALIGNTHE SHEET METAL RECEIVER WITH THE ROLL PASS DURING EMERGENCY OPERATION.